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Investor Preferences of September 2014

Since May, the number of Affluent investors who indicated that they hold on the sidelines rather than invest steadily grew. But the downward trend reversed in September, according to Spectrem Group’s monthly survey of Affluent households about how they intended to invest in the coming month. “Not Invest” dropped 7.40 points to 34, a six-month low.

It is still 3.5 points higher than the same period last year, indicating a lingering cautious mindset.

Affluent investors indicate that Stocks and Stock Mutual Funds will be their investment vehicles of choice in the coming months. Stocks gained 9.60 points to 37.60, a 12-month high. Stock Mutual Funds gained 6.80 points to 37.60, an eight-month high.

Intention to invest in Cash gained 2.80 points to 19.20, while Bond Mutual Funds ticked upward 0.40 points to 14. Real Estate gained 2 points to 8.40. Bonds remained flat at 6.40, a dip of 0.8 of a percentage point.

Spectrem Group breaks down Affluent investment preferences by Millionaireand non-Millionaire households. Non-Millionaire confidence in the market surged in September. Among these respondents, “Not Invest” plummeted 15.1 points to 36.3, a six-month low and 11.5 points lower than September 2013. Stocks edge out Stock Mutual Funds as the investment vehicle of choice (34.7, a gain of 10.1 points from the previous month and a 23-month high, vs. 33.1, a gain of 12.9 points and a three-month high).

Among Millionaire investors, intention to get back into the market is even stronger. They forecast that Stock Mutual Funds will be the investment vehicle of choice (42.1 points, a gain of 2.4 from the previous month) followed by Stocks (40.5 points, a gain of 10 points).

The number of Millionaires who indicated that in the coming month they would hold on the sidelines and “Not Invest” dipped 2.2 points to 31.8. But this is 13.6 points higher than the same period last year. Cash investment gained 1.2 points to 17.5, while Bond Mutual Funds dipped 1.8 points to 17.5, a three-month low. Millionaires intend to invest more in Bonds (8.7 points) than they do in Real Estate (7.9 points).